Last Day on Earth
by DamnDonnerGirls
Summary: "Here, now, on their last day on earth, they have no more secrets left to keep, nothing left to hide, nothing left to lose." Written because, like Mayor and Mrs. Undersee, I refuse to let Madge burn.


**Disclaimers: **

I do not own the Hunger Games universe or characters. In fact, in a way, they own me.

The title is inspired by one of my favorite songs, _The Last Day on Earth _by Kate Miller-Heidke. It was popular around the time Liam Hemsworth was in _Neighbours _in Australia. Google it and cry along with me.

Like in my other stories, I'm borrowing Mayor Undersee's first name from **Medea Smyke**. I named Mrs. Everdeen after willow bark extract (nature's aspirin) and Willow Shields (Prim in the movies).

**Author's note:**

This is the epilogue of (and therefore contains SPOILERS for) my long-neglected fic, _The Past is Prologue_. I've had over a year's worth of writer's block on that story—I know exactly how it ends, but getting there was killing me. I finally decided to post this as a separate fic in the hopes of ending a creative rut. Thank you for reading!

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**Title:**

Last Day on Earth

**Summary: **

_"__Here, now, on their last day on earth, they have no more secrets __left __to keep, nothing left to hide, nothing left to lose.__"_

Written because, like Mayor and Mrs. Undersee, I refuse to let Madge burn.

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When there is nothing left but the inevitable, the mayor of District 12 eases his weary body into bed, holds his dying wife, and waits for the bombs to fall.

"I've switched off the fence," Henry Undersee says. "The future of Twelve is in Gale Hawthorne's hands now."

_When all your power is gone, that's how you will know it is time for revolution._ The mayor wishes he didn't have to be so cryptic, but Hawthorne is the most intelligent young man he knows.

His wife clasps his hands in hers. "Madge?"

"Safe in Two." Henry Undersee brings his wife's pale fingers to his lips. Romulus Thread thought he had scored a coup, catching the mayor's daughter—the Mockingjay's friend—in the act of hiding anti-Capitol propaganda in coal shipments bound for the various districts.

What Thread didn't know was that the "arrest" was orchestrated by the mayor himself, the mayor's old friend Plutarch Heavensbee, and Madge's devoted godfather Haymitch Abernathy.

It had been an elaborate plot meant to make Mayor Undersee the target of President Snow's wrath, pulling focus from the Everdeens and the Hawthornes in time for the most critical part of the Games. In the best case scenario, Snow would sacrifice the mayor and spare the rest of District Twelve. In the worst case scenario, it would give Gale and his comrades a few more minutes to escape, and a chance to carry out the evacuation that had been impossible to plan in advance.

Of course, there was the happy side effect of delivering Madge to Panem National Penitentiary in District Two, which—unbeknownst to Thread—was now controlled by a rebel faction led by Lyme, a former Victor. From there, Madge would assist in gathering intelligence for the Mockingjay army.

Mrs. Undersee's voice quivers. "And M-Marius?"

"On his way to be reunited with his sister." The mayor presses a gentle kiss on his wife's forehead.

"Remember how happy you were when he was born? Healthy, whole, with red hair like yours used to be?" Her eyes shimmers with tears. "He was our baby, and we had to give him up."

It's been twenty-five years, but Henry's heart still constricts at the memory of leaving his only son, conceived in secret and birthed in treason, in the care of a distant relative from District Two.

"We had to protect him from the Capitol. In case they ever found out what you and your sister did."

"And now he's an Avox," his wife says bitterly.

"Because of his compassion," Henry counters proudly. "Because he refused to cower in fear for one second longer." Because he was trying to protect his friend, the man who had his sister's heart.

He pulls her closer. "If there's one thing I regret, it's that our generation didn't start the revolution," he confesses. "If I hadn't clung to my attempts at reform... if Plutarch hadn't played it safe... if Haymitch hadn't self-destructed... if we all hadn't been so goddamned afraid... we could have won by now and saved so many lives.

"But Marius wasn't lost to us forever," the mayor reminds his wife. "He came to Twelve and learned his true identity, his true name. He met his sister. They are both alive today, fighting the war we were too afraid to start. You and I, we won't live to see it... but when this is all over, there will be no more Reapings, no more Avoxes. No more fear."

"You deserve to see it, Henry," she implores him through her tears. "You've worked so hard, you deserve to live on and be with our children. You can still make it. Don't let me hold you back. Willow—" She chokes back a sob. "Willow said I didn't have much time anyway."

Willow Everdeen, mother of the Mockingjay. A lifetime ago, she was the apothecary's daughter and best friend to his wife and her twin sister.

Willow will survive this, whether she liked it or not. It was her destiny.

Three, united. Two, divided.

One, alone.

"My place is with you," Henry tells his wife tenderly. "When I met you, I knew I would follow you to the ends of the earth."

Her face crumbles. "You wouldn't have been able to follow me into the Games."

"Your sister made sure I didn't have to," Henry points out. "The world may never remember her name, but she was the original Mockingjay. She made the ultimate sacrifice for you and Marius."

"And for Haymitch," she whispers.

"And for Haymitch."

"I hope Madge will find someone who will love her as much as Haymitch loved my sister. As much as you love me."

Henry smiles. He's reminded of a young rebel with a scowl on his lips and adoration in his eyes. Marius will make sure Gale finds Madge again, after the war is over. "Believe me, she already has."

Explosions light up the night sky.

And so war begins. But right now, clinging to the love of his life, Henry Undersee is finally at peace.

"I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough," she sobs. "I'm sorry for drowning myself in morphling when you and Madge needed me the most."

"You won't need morphling anymore," he soothes her. "We'll be with them soon. Your sister, our families."

"I love you, Henry."

Here, now, on their last day on earth, they have no more secrets left to keep, nothing left to hide, nothing left to lose.

For the first time in twenty-five years, he calls her by her real name, the name her twin took when she went into the Hunger Games to save her sister and unborn nephew.

"I love you, Maysilee."


End file.
